Minnesota Department of Transportation

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South Central Minnesota Area Transportation Partnership

Transportation Planning in MnDOT District 7

Draft 2019-2022 Area Transportation Improvement Program Open For Comment

Each year, the Area Transportation Partnership solicits, reviews and prioritizes projects that seek federal aid highway, state highway, and federal transit sources of funding.  The ATP-7 in MnDOT District 7 recently completed their draft four-year program totaling around $340 million for public review.

Please review the program available in the following formats:

    Upcoming opportunities to provide comment on the draft program for 2019-2022 includes:
  • Southwest Region 8 Development Commission Transportation Committee Meeting
    April 4, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. 2401 Broadway Ave, Slayton
  • Region Nine Development Commission – Commission Meeting/Open House
    April 11, Time – 4:30 – 5:30 p.m., South Central Services Cooperative, 2075 Lookout Drive, North Mankato

  • The Mankato/North Mankato Area Planning Organization (MAPO) is accepting public comment for the 2019-2022 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) at an Open House on Wednesday, April 18 from 4:00PM – 6:00PM at the North Mankato Police Annex, 1001 Belgrade Avenue, North Mankato. The MAPO is also accepting public comment on its website, located at www.mnmapo.org .

What is an Area Transportation Partnership (ATP)?

MnDOT created area transportation partnerships (ATPs) to emphasize greater public involvement in the preparation of transportation plans and programs. There are eight ATPs in Minnesota (one for each MnDOT District area).

Background

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 gave the states more flexibility in determining transportation solutions and required the development of a Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act—A Legacy for Users continues this flexibility.

MnDOT responded by decentralizing the program decision-making process to a more regional level (i.e., the districts). The Area Transportation Partnerships were established by each district to facilitate broader input to the project selection process. ATP-7 covers the 13 counties of Blue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, LeSueur, Martin, Nicollet, Nobles, Rock, Sibley, Waseca, and Watonwan.

Corridors of Commerce

Current project maps

ATP-7 operating procedures and policies

2019-2022 STIP Funding Guidance

2018-2021 STIP

Capital Highway Investment Proposal - State Highways (CHIP)

Statewide information

Membership

Members of ATP-7 include:

    • 4 MnDOT District 7 representatives
    • 2 Regional Development Commission representatives
    • 4 County representatives
    • 3 City (more than 5,000 population) representatives
    • 2 Transit representatives
    • 1 Mankato / North Mankato Area Planning Organization representative  

MnDOT is responsible for staff support of the ATP-7.

Transit Mankato / North Mankato Area Planning Organization
Wayne Albers, St. Peter Transit Office
507-934-0668		 Mark Anderson, 
City of Mankato Heartland Express
507-387-8655		 Seth Greenwood, 
Nicollet County,
507-931-1760		 Alt. Brianna Anderson
City of Eagle Lake,
507-654-0067
Cities
Steve Koehler, P.E., New Ulm City Engineer
507-359-8245		 Mike Kuhle
City of Worthington
507-360-9012		 Jeff Johnson, 
City of Mankato
507-387-8640

 
Counties
Roger Risser, 
Watonwan County Engineer, 
507-942-2200		 Don Wachal, Jackson County Commissioner 
507-847-4182		 Tim Stahl,
Jackson County Engineer 
507-847-2525		 Jack Kolars,
Nicollet County Commissioner
507-327-9987
Regional Development Commission (RDC)
Matt Widboom, Southwest RDC 
507-360-6632		 Terry Genelin, 
Region 9
507-665-6613		 Alt. Annette Fiedler, Southwest RDC 
507-836-8547		 Alt. Samuel Parker
Region 9
507-389-8886 
MnDOT
Lisa Bigham, Planning Director, 
507-304-6195		 Gordon Regenscheid, Asst. District Engineer
507-304-6105		 Greg Ous, District Engineer
507-304-6101		 Peter Harff, Acting Asst. District Engineer
507-304-6194

Activities/Schedule

Each year, ATPs develop an Area Transportation Improvement Program (ATIP) to incorporate into the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). ATIPs, which span a minimum of four years, include all projects that seek federal aid highway, state trunk highway, and federal transit sources of funding.

To distribute the funds, a Statewide Performance Program allows Minnesota to meet performance targets on the National Highway System.

ATP-7 solicits projects for:

  • Surface Transportation Program (small urban and rural road and bridge; and transit capital)
  • Transportation Alternatives Program (within a statewide framework)

These projects are ranked by categories with set investment targets, and then integrated into the four-year ATIP. Project categories include:

  • National Highway System
  • State roads and bridges
  • Rural county roads and bridges
  • Small urban (more than 5,000 population) city streets and bridges
  • Transportation alternatives
  • Transit capital

Schedule of activities

  • November–January: Solicit projects
  • February: Evaluate and prioritize projects
  • March: Draft ATIP
  • April: Public comment and review period
  • May: Submit draft ATIP to MnDOT Central Office
  • June: Draft STIP review and comment
  • July: STIP approval by Commissioner

See timeline (PDF)